About a week and a half ago a friend of mine, Jim from my day job contacted me about a putting on a New Year's Eve Comedy show for his new boss. I was of course intrigued and excited. The price was negotiated and agreed upon. I booked some amazing comics on incredibly short notice and we were good to go. Then we set up to meet with his new boss. That is when things got really interesting.I met with Jim at the venue for the show to discuss the details and set up. His new boss comes in and introduces himself and says, "So, what do you think about the show?" at which point I am slightly confused. Jim then gives me a brief rundown about a pilot TV show that they would like me to be the host of. WOW!! How exciting. I am told of the details of the show and all the possibilities of networks wanting to purchase the show. I agree to do the show. The pay is good. The timing is good. I deal with the day job to get the time off for it and I meet with the boss to sign the contracts. That is when things get weird. Suddenly the offer has changed. I am now offered the task of re-writing the scripts, for even more pay. I am presented with the contract. I read it over. Something catches my eye. It is a clause that requires a deposit from me. RED FLAG!! I inquire. He says, "That's waived" I reply "ok, lets make a note here in the contract." He seems put off. RED FLAG! I sign the adjusted contracted and we are all set to start filming the following week.Two days after contracts get signed I am informed that the venue has changed. RED FLAG!! The photo shoot which I did pay for (I know, I know) is still up in the air.I express my concern with Jim. I let him know that we really need to be promoting the New Years Eve show. Now we are just about 10 days from New Years Eve. The following day I get a call from Jim. Here's where it all falls apart. Jim informs me that the boss has not paid him. MAJOR RED FLAG!! Fast forward a couple hours and many many emails between Jim and the boss and Jim and some of the other people involved in the show and it appears that the boss is nothing more than a scam artist. This person is a particular low life that preys on the naive dreamers of the world. He goes to small towns and slings his big ideas of Hollywood dreams, all while collecting money from innocent trusting people. Throughout the day we find out that this man has taken unknown amounts of money from local Sierra Vista people including Jim. This man is the worst kind of scum! We have all filed police reports and contacted an attorney. Now we are left with the fallout from his actions. That is why we decided to still put on the New Years Eve Show. We want to take the damage this man did and turn it positive. He caused harm to Sierra Suites. We want to make it up to them. Jim quit his job to work for this man and received no compensation. He has a pregnant girlfriend and a new home they just moved into. We want to make it up to him. The DJ spent countless hours creating new music for the show that he will never be paid for, meanwhile his wife went into preterm labor delivering their baby 2 months premature. We want to make it up to him. As far as I go, well, I didn't get burned as bad as some people. I am disappointed, but that is no new thing in the line of work I am in. But I have the advantage of turning this situation into something good. So we decided to make this show happen. We need your help. We need people to know that its happening and that it has absolutely NO affiliation with the creep claiming to put on the TV show. It is being done by me, Jim and the DJ. Spread the word, share the event, AND COME TO THE BEST NEW YEARS EVE SHOW IN SIERRA VISTA!!! $60 in advance Food and Alcohol INCLUDED!!

Amy, you have learned a great lesson in this business.... don't wait for bookers to come to you and book you for shows, create your own show and book it yourself!!

I am a true believer in that, we can't control what bad things happen to us, but what we can control is our reaction to it!! I applaud you for taking a bad situation, and making a positive out of it!!!

I wish you all the best with this show!!

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Amy Blackwell almost always has something to say. Sometimes its funny.